


Honor Among Thieves

by MackenzieTheHuntress



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 19:39:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17710340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MackenzieTheHuntress/pseuds/MackenzieTheHuntress
Summary: Hello, everyone! I just wanted to pop in real quick and address the elephant in the room. This isn't a new story, it is a story I started back in 2013. I rewrote some parts of the story but my main concern was keeping it as close to the original as possible. Enjoy!





	Honor Among Thieves

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! I just wanted to pop in real quick and address the elephant in the room. This isn't a new story, it is a story I started back in 2013. I rewrote some parts of the story but my main concern was keeping it as close to the original as possible. Enjoy!

Honor Among Thieves  
Chapter I: The Guild

The sun was setting over the barren city of Riften, there weren't near as many travelers in the city as there were in its glory days. Some believed that the Thieves Guild was to blame for this. Ava, however, knew better.

The door to The Flagon flew open and a leather clad woman appeared out of the darkness. Her face was shadowed by a leather hood, concealing her identity. As the woman approached the bar, she removed her disguise, revealing her pale grey face. 

Ava sat down next to Delvin, who had raised her since the disappearance of her sister Karliah. She pulled her hair out of it’s top knot and let the curls fall down the length of her back, giving them a quick shake for volume. 

Delvin noticed her presence quickly and rested his mug of mead. "Ava, it's good to see you've returned. Steal anything good?" He asked, smile widening from ear to ear.  
A smirk of her own grew on her face. "How does this look, ole Delvin?" Ava replied, pulling a gemstone out of her satchel. She glanced around quickly to see if the other guild members had zeroed in on her conversation. Luckily for her, they had not. 

Delvin’s face lit up with astonishment upon recognizing the stone lying in Ava’s small hands. "By Ysmir, you best show that to Vex if that's what I believe it is." He gestured to the blonde thief who appeared to be holding up the wall she was leaning on. 

In all of the years that she’s known the man, Ava’s never seen Delvin get so worked up over a simple gemstone. She knew that this had to be quiet the find. The young thief flashed her former caretaker a gentle smile and kissed him on the cheek before she got up to speak to Vex.

As she crossed the short distance between Delvin and Vex, Ava caught the attention of the bar tender. “It’s good to see you’re back!” Vekel the Man called out to her, not expecting a reply in return. Ava gave him the same smile she shared with Delvin and moved on to Vex.

"Hey, can you look at this for me? Delvin seems to think it’s something of importance." She showed the gem to Vex, shining it with her sleeve.

Vex took the gem from her hand and examined it. "Been a while since I've seen one of those. What you've got there is a Stone of Barenziah." 

Ava had heard stories about Barenziah and his crown adorned with marvelous gemstones. She never would have imagined that the gem she swiped from the Jarl of Whiterun’s nightstand could be one of these stones. "So, is it worth anything to you?" Ava asked Vex. 

"Not like that it isn't. The stone was pried off of Barenziah's ceremonial crown by a thief in order to cover his tracks." Vex handed the glowing purple gem back to Ava.

"Are you sure you won't buy it?" Ava asked, pouting her lip like a child.

Vex rolled her eyes at Ava. "Look, you know I only buy things I can turn around quickly for a profit. And no one wants those stones unless they have the whole set.” She paused briefly, looking at the disappointment on Ava’s face. “Tell you what, if you find the rest of them, talk to me again. Otherwise, keep it and maybe it'll bring you luck." With that said, she ruffled Ava’s curls and shooed her away. 

"Here he is, the man himself!" An all too familiar voice called from behind. Ava recognized the man as Brynjolf, he was clearly egging on Vekel who now seemed to be inebriated. She took Vex’s cue and sat down on the barstool next to Bryn. He shot her a toothy grin and handed her a mug of ale. 

Glancing over at Vekel, Ava noticed the lustful gaze centered on her. "Doll, I think you need to get a bigger pair of pants from Tonilia. I don't believe the leather could hug your backside any tighter." The Man chuckled, clearly too drunk to think properly. Ava's cheeks turned red hot with anger and embarrassment. She turned to walk away when a familiar hand landed on her arm and held her back.

"Lass, you know he's drunk. Why are you walking away?" Brynjolf looked down at her, disappointed at her vulnerability.

Ava rolled her eyes at him and yanked her arm from Brynjolf's grasp. "A drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts. He said it as if it were an insult, so what if my armor is tight on my ass? Isn't that what men of his standards like?" Ava's voice grew louder. The others in The Flagon looked at the two astonished by Ava's bluntness. 

Brynjolf hushed her. "It's what all men like lass." He chuckled, winking at her. 

Ava smiled and looked into Brynjolf's eyes. "Even you?" Her voice was quiet and sultry. She placed a kiss on his cheek before he could answer and slipped off into the darkness if the cistern.

Brynjolf was only a few years her senior. He joined the Guild a year before Ava was old enough to start doing jobs for Delvin and Mercer. He helped her out on most of her heists and they quickly fell for each other. Though neither of them acted on their feelings, the members of the Guild saw them as a couple.

Ava walked over to her bed in the cistern and fell in it. She heard someone fussing about and cursing. Peaking around the foot of her bed, she spotted Mercer Frey reviewing evidence from the latest job. 

Aringoth sold Goldenglow Estate to an unknown person, preventing Maven Black Briar from easily obtaining honey. Nine forbid Sabjorn was to benefit from this, so naturally Maven sought out help from the guild to take care of him. During the job, Ava discovered a note revealing that the person who bought Goldenglow was assisting Sabjorn. The mystery person used a strange symbol instead of their name. 

As she hid in her bed, Ava listened in on Mercer’s rambling. "Damn her to Oblivion." Mercer said to himself, not noticing his audience. "I thought that I had heard the last of Karliah years ago."

Ava felt the stinging familiarity of tears welling in her eyes. One night, many years ago her sister and the former guild master, Gallus, had not returned with Mercer Frey. He fell from the ladder in the cistern beaten and bloodied, crying of Karliah’s treachery. 

She jumped out of bed and walked up to Mercer, tears streaming down her hot cheeks. "Mercer, yo..you said Karliah was murdered by bandits.." Ava could barely stand, she used Mercer's desk as support. She felt a burning sensation deep within her gut. She felt so betrayed. 

"Ava..I..uh..I didn't know you were in here." Mercer knew he was busted, he couldn't hide the truth from her any longer. Before he could continue on Brynjolf erupted through the door, Ava's sobs were loud enough that the guards above them patrolling Riften probably heard.

"What's going on in here?" Brynjolf asked sternly, pulling Ava close to him.

"She knows that her sister isn't dead. I was about to tell her the truth." Mercer answered. Ava pulled away from Brynjolf as the rest of the Guild walked in. 

"You knew about this?" She asked him coldly. He reached out to her but she slapped his hand. "Don't touch me." She looked towards the others who were silent. "Vex. Sapphire. Vipir. You all knew about this?" Her gaze turned to Delvin. She looked down and shook her head. "I don't even know what to say. I trusted you with my life Delvin. You raised me after my sister "died". You knew how much she meant to me, she was the only Talos damned family I had left! How could you keep such a secret from me?" 

The tears consumed her face, her appearance didn't even come close to the beauty she was minutes before this happened. She looked cheated, empty inside, truly heart-broken.  
"Where is she? I need to see her!" She looked up at Mercer as if she was ready to pounce on him. "Where in Oblivion is my sister?!" Everyone just looked at her in silence. Brynjolf tried to hold her once more, this time she accepted nuzzling her face into his chest. 

"Lass I believe Mercer has something to tell you." Brynjolf cupped her chin and wiped the tears from her face. Ava turned to Mercer and apologized for her behavior. "Go on." Mercer caressed her cheek and pulled out a chair for her. He looked towards Vekel and signaled him to fetch some mead. Whatever he was about to tell Ava wasn't going to be easy. 

"Ava, that night at Snow Veil Sanctum Gallus and Karliah weren't murdered by bandits." She nodded her head hanging on every word he said. "Karliah murdered Gallus.." He started to say something else but Ava cut him off.

"You're lying my sister loved him! She might not have been the nicest person but she was no murderer!" She stood up in Mercer's face, her eyes turning more sinister.

"I wasn't finished woman, I suggest you sit down before you do something you regret." Mercer scoffed and stepped back. Ava lunged toward him but Brynjolf pulled her back and gently pushed her down on the chair.

"If you're so sure of your sister’s innocence. Why haven't you seen her in 20 years?" He had a point, Ava hadn't seen or heard from Karliah since the night they left. "Karliah destroyed everything the Guild stood for. She murdered Gallus in cold blood and betrayed the Guild. After we discovered what she'd done, we spent months trying to track her down, but she just vanished. We told you we were searching for the bandit group. I'm sorry that we've lied to you."

The young woman’s eyes were puffy from sobbing and she looked a mess. "Why has she returned?" Ava asked, her voice sullen.

"Your sister and I were like partners. I went with her on every heist. We watched each other's backs. I know her techniques, her skills. If she kills me, there'll be no one left that could possibly catch her. She's where 'The end began, Snow Veil Sanctum. We have to go out there before she disappears again." 

This was happening too fast for Ava. After 20 years of mourning her dead sister, Mercer tells her that Karliah is alive and well. And now he wants to hunt her down and catch her. Ava started to feel nauseous and the cistern began to spin. She stood up and grabbed Brynjolf's shoulder. "Lass are you alright?" 

She opened her mouth to speak to Brynjolf put she passed out.

She awoke a short time later. Mercer, Brynjolf, Vex, and Delvin were sitting around her bed. "I'm sorry I just couldn't handle all the heart ache at once." 

Brynjolf grabbed her hand. "Just take it one step at a time, lass." 

Mercer became agitated. "We can't let her slip through our fingers. We are going together and we're going to kill her. Prepare yourself and meet me at the ruins as soon as you can. 

"No, I can't. I won't kill my sister." Tears were welling in her eyes again. 

"If you don't help me, I will banish you from the Guild! Mercer threatened. 

Brynjolf and Vex just looked. "You can't do that Mercer! She's been here since she was a pup. If you banish her, you'll have to banish me as well. After Karliah disappeared I vowed that I would protect her." Delvin spoke up causing the others to speak up as well.

"Mercer you're overreacting are you even sure that it is Karliah? Vex asked.

Brynjolf stood up and grabbed Ava's hand. "We're going for a walk. When you've decided the best way to handle this, come find us. Until then there will be no talk of banishment."

Mercer was insulted by Brynjolf's sudden rise of authority. "I'm the Guild Master here Bryn, not you. What I say goes." 

Brynjolf picked Ava up and threw her over his shoulder. "That may be so, but without a Guild you're nothing. If you banish Ava, the Guild is going to walk out on you. So, think about this would ya?" With that said Brynjolf left Mercer silent and proceeded out of the secret passageway with Ava in tow.


End file.
